An Ikeja High Court sentenced a man, Vincent Edeh to 21 years imprisonment on Friday for stabbing a woman to death with a knife.
Edeh was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Justice Oyindamola Ogala sentenced Edeh to the prison term after he pleaded guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The Ikeja court ruled that Edeh’s time at the correctional centre begins from July 6, 2020, the date since when he had been in detention.
State Prosecutor, Mrs Abike Oluwasanmi, had earlier told the court that Edeh committed the offence on July 6, 2020 at No.14, Nwobodo Eze St., Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos.
She said Edeh killed one Oghechi Umunnakwe by stabbing her with a knife in an unresolved argument.
She said the offence contravened the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015
Oluwasanmi also told the court of a plea bargain application made by the defence, dated March 21, which proposed 21 years jail term for Edeh.
The defence counsel, Mrs Gloria Odimba, also confirmed the acceptance of the plea bargain on behalf of her client.
While a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, retrained the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from confiscating six properties traced to Zamfara Governor, Bello Matawalle.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a judgment, hinged the order on Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution which grants absolute immunity to serving governors from civil and criminal proceedings.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the EFCC, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/709/22 had sued the owner of the six landed properties.
The property includes Plot 729, Idu Industrial Layout; Plot 1327, Cadastral Zone AO5, Maitama District; Plot 2934, Cadastral Zone, AO6, Maitama District and Plot 730, Cadastral Zone AO6, Maitama District.
Others are Plot 28048, Cadastral Zone, Maitama District, and Plot 515, Cadastral Zone, BOO, Kukwaba District.
The EFCC, in the suit, sought forfeiture of the six properties to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ekwo held that the anti-graft agency lacked the power to initiate any criminal proceedings against Matawalle while in office as governor.
The judge agreed with Ahmed Raji, SAN, who appeared for Matawalle, that the criminal proceedings activated against the governor by EFCC was an abuse of court process in view of his insulation from criminal trial by immunity law.
NAN reports that though Ekwo had, on May 26, issued interim forfeiture order against the property in a ruling on EFCC’S ex-parte application, he however vacated the order based on the established ownership claim by the governor and the request for dismissal of the suit.
The judge, while vacating the interim order agreed with Raji that the anti-graft agency lacked locus standi to initiate the suit for the forfeiture of the property of a serving governor.
” From the avalanche of evidence placed before the court,, there is no contest or dispute on the ownership of the properties.
“And from the position of the law, especially Section 308 of the Constitution, EFCC has no other option than to wait till the end of tenure of office of the respondent.
“The owner of the properties, having shown up and found to be a serving governor, protected by Section 308, EFCC’S suit is no longer sanctioned by law and any action, not sanctioned by law, is an abuse of court process,” he said.
Justice Ekwo consequently dismissed the suit in its entirety and directed EFCC to wait till the end of the tenure of the governor to activate criminal court proceedings against him.
EFCC had in the suit claimed that it received an intelligence report to the effect that governor Matawalle, on assumption of office, had been using the state’s fund to acquire multi-billion naira property in choice areas of Abuja.
The governor was also alleged to have moved over N2.1 billion from the state’s Ministry of Finance to the Directorate of Investment and Business under his office and used some companies and Bureau De Change (BDC) to launder the money.
Ikeja Court/(NAN)
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